


Heart to Heart

by JediDryad



Series: February Fluff: 28 Ways Luke and Mara Get it Together at last. [9]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Genre: Again, F/M, Force Bonds, Karrde is the best boss, Karrde ships it, Luke Skywalker: he is here to rescue you, Mara's bedside manner, Platonic Hurt/Comfort, Stuck In A Hole, This seems to be a thing I do, danger makes the heart grow fonder, february fluff, romantic advice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:01:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29241015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JediDryad/pseuds/JediDryad
Summary: A deal gone bad leaves Mara and an injured Karrde trapped in the rubble of a demolished Coruscant building. While Luke leads a rescue effort, Karrde takes advantage of Mara's undivided attention to tell her what he thinks of her connection to the Jedi Master outside - and what he thinks she ought to do about it.
Relationships: Mara Jade & Talon Karrde, Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker
Series: February Fluff: 28 Ways Luke and Mara Get it Together at last. [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2129439
Comments: 21
Kudos: 47





	Heart to Heart

_Mara? Are you alright?_

It was Skywalker.

Mara shook the cobwebs out of her mind. She was fairly certain she hadn’t actually lost consciousness. It was just shock that left her stunned and not certain exactly how much time had passed since the explosion that seemed to brought the small Coruscant row building tumbling down around her.

Following her instincts and - she was pretty certain - the proddings of the Force, she’d managed to pull Karrde along with her under an overhang that was holding for now at least. Of course, that didn’t prevent rubble from crashing all around them, effectively burying them.

As her eyes adjusted, she found there were tiny specks of light coming from between the large chunks of rock, and her nose detected fresh air. They weren’t completely buried, then.

_I’m awake._ She sent back, not really caring if she was being reassuring or not. 

“Karrde?” she called out.

She had other priorities.

As she grabbed her glowrod off her belt and turned it on, she repeated her call. Mara wondered if it were obvious in her voice how desperately she needed him to answer.

“I’m here.”

He sounded weaker than usual.

She spun towards his voice and picked him out about two feet from her. His breathing seemed shallow and he flinched away from the light as she shone it on him. She redirected it away from his eyes.

“Status?”

“I think I’m trapped.”

“We’re both trapped.” She half muttered, and he chuckled. She could hear pain in it.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think it’s my arm,” he gasped, “and probably my ribs.”

Mara remembered how the blast had hammered him into the ground. That she’d dragged him along roughly likely hadn’t helped.

She fumbled around in the dim and caught his hand, held it for a second.

_I have your location_ , Luke’s voice was in the back of her mind. _We’re coming._

_Karrde got the worst of it_

He sent her a rush of warmth and reassurance along with an image of a med team.

She squeezed Karrde’s hand.

“We are going to get out of this.”

He squeezed back weakly and groaned as the motion triggered painful nerves

“Good. In the meantime, you wouldn’t happen to have any painkillers in that first aid kit of yours?”

His voice was breathier than usual.

“The one you always think is overkill?”

“Stop making me laugh.”

She located a tab of Comaren, slipped it under Karrde’s tongue and started gingerly examining him as they both waited for it to take effect. There didn’t seem to be any obvious bleeding and he assured her he could feel his toes.

“Skywalker’s on his way, I assume,” he stated after a moment. His voice sounded stronger and his breathing was a bit less strained.

“Yes, he’s got our location.” She pulled off her jacket and draped it across Karrde’s torso. Hopefully it would help keep him a bit warmer, “He’s bringing a med team, I think.”

She paused.

“This Force communication stuff isn’t all that precise.”

He chuckled again and moaned slightly,

“The two of you seem pretty proficient.”

She shone her light around in their space, checking for any other obvious dangers.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” 

He tried to shake his head but yelped in pain.

“Collarbone too I see.”

“Maybe.”

After a moment of lying still, the pain appeared to recede.

“Oh I’m getting old and ornery.”

“Hardly.”

“No. It’s true. Even though I know better, I got confrontational with a trigger happy, baby smuggler who has a thing for explosives. I can’t dance out of the way of those rocks like I used to."

His expression grew sardonic.

“Must be why my upstart of a deputy started cavorting with jedi and government officials, and then left me to join the respectable business world.”

She set the lamp down and pulled her knees to her chest.

“It isn’t much different from the fringe really.”

“You never would have gotten blown up like this there.”

She snorted lightly.

“I wouldn’t put it past them if they thought there were credits in it.”

“Ah how did my idealist become such a cynic?”

That made Mara laugh.

“I miss working with you.”

“You are welcome back any time, my dear. If you hadn’t been here today, I’d be dead.”

_We’re outside. Still okay? Need to work out a strategy._

She sent Luke a flood of reassurance. She could sense him outside as well. They had been found.

And she realized Karrde’s eyes were on her again.

Really, Mara. You don’t think it’s interesting that you and Skywalker are this closely linked?

“He’s a jedi. He can sense things and reach out.”

“And you reach back.”

She shrugged.

“Did you know he was on planet?”

“Yes”

“Did he call you?”

“No. I just knew.”

“Do you know when Horn is on planet?”

“Not without working at it.”

“But with Skywalker you can just tell.”

“Kriff Karrde, he’s a jedi master. I assume everyone can sense him, and he can sense everyone he wants.”

“Does he race off to rescue everyone as well?”

Mara glared at him.

“You know he does.”

She sat back, satisfied that she had won.

Karrde remained skeptical.

“I don’t know. This seems awfully prompt. You didn’t even send out a distress signal.”

“What are you getting at?”

“I’m suggesting you might be rather special to the jedi master.” 

“You’ve said that before. The idea becomes more ridiculous as the years go by.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I do. Caring about other people is item two on Skywalker’s Jedi Master job description, right after lifting heavy things. He cares about everyone and he’s way too busy to narrow it down all that much. Besides, he’s with that reincarnated jedi, whatever her name is.”

Karrde was in obvious pain, but he managed a smirk.

“You’ve met her. Twice if I recall. You know her name. Besides, they broke up and you know that too.”

She closed her eyes, annoyed with herself for thinking she could feign ignorance to Karrde.

“Yes, Tionne mentioned it.”

The smirk became a grin.

“It doesn’t matter, Talon.”

“On the contrary, my dear. It would appear it matters a great deal.”

She bared her teeth but he was undeterred.

“To you.”

“That’s it, I’m swapping out the Comaren for Symoxin. Comaren makes you entirely too chatty.”

“Did it never occur to you that this might be something special?”

“She paused as she rummaged through the first aid kit."

“No.”

The answer came far too late to be anything other than a lie and they both knew it.

She sighed.

“Yes, it occurred to me. Briefly. A long time ago.”

“And?”

“And what? Obviously it was a brief consideration that we both decided against.”

Karrde’s eyes widened. He shifted to try and sit up, groaned and felt back against the rocks. 

Mara glared at him reprovingly.

“You talked it over together?”

She looked away.

“We didn’t have to. I think he made it clear.”

“Oh did he? How?”

“By not saying anything.”

“You’re making me laugh again.”

She dropped her head back and closed her eyes.

“Karrde. He’s not interested.”

“No, he just tracks you closely enough to notice when you’re in trouble and get a team here in minutes. Or are you going to try to convince me they’re not already outside working their way to us.”

She gritted her teeth.

“They are, but he would do that for anyone.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“Yeah well you and Luke are different people. You’re both thoughtful and generous, but you have a loyalty to your team that takes precedence over other beings and you prioritize appropriately. Luke doesn’t. He can’t ignore a call for help and he can’t seem to stop himself from dropping everything if someone needs him, even if the odds are good the being he helps will turn around and shove a vibro into his back at the first opportunity. It’s ridiculous.”

She wrapped her arms tightly around her knees again.

“Ridiculous.”

“And you love him.”

There was no question in Karrde’s tone.

“You’re delirious.”

“No, the Comaren just makes me chatty. I don’t think you’re quite thinking straight on this one.”

Mara pulled her legs up to her chest again and tilted her head back against the pile of rocks that served as the wall at the moment.

“You can’t see it.” He said gently, “I know. But he looks at you like you make the stars shine brighter.”

“You’re right,” she muttered, “I can’t see it.”

“And you wouldn’t trust it if you did,” Karrde acknowledged.

“I would not.” 

“That seems like a very inefficient choice, Mara.”

That got her attention.

“Contrary to your personal feelings, your judgement is quite good. You pushed us in the right direction, and you must have a good sense of others because your trading business is growing nicely.”

Mara frowned and tried to figure out why Karrde’s words were making her nervous.

“Is there something I don’t know about the two of you that would make it reasonable for you not to trust him.”

She closed her eyes. 

“No.”

“You trust him to have your back in a fight. You trust him to talk to you in your mind. It seems to me like this wall of denial you’ve got set up between you and Skywalker isn’t based on anything real. It’s just making your life more challenging than it needs to be.

“And that sort of inefficiency isn’t like you.”

“He’s never said anything.” she blurted, “He was with someone else.”

“You admitted you’ve never said anything either.”

“I wouldn’t know where to start. And then it would all fall apart terribly, and I’d kill him after all.

“Is that what you’re afraid of?”

“I’m not afraid.”

This time she didn’t even look over. She knew the expression Karrde was wearing

“Okay, fine. I am afraid. I meant it when I said I wouldn’t know where to start.” 

“Then don’t talk.”

Karrde raised his eyebrows and Mara rolled her eyes.

“I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with you.”

“I can’t believe you haven’t already had it with someone else. Faughn’s not one to shy away from relationship advice, and the Chief of State seems like she’d be pretty direct.”

“No, Leia has not told me to kriff her brother.”

“Pity. Would you do it if she did?”

“This is a deeply unprofessional conversation.”

“We are not in a professional situation. My friend and I are trapped under a load of rubble. I think she should be contemplating her life choices right about now, and wanted to point out a missed opportunity she just might still have a shot at.”

The light grew brighter then, and the rocks started to move. Certain the structure was collapsing, Mara threw herself protectively over Karrde. He hissed with pain and she backed off as she realized the rocks shifting around her were bouncing off an invisible barrier as they fell. Luke was shielding them with the Force. As he anchored onto her presence to centre the shield, she caught a wave of emotion: focus, concern, affection. Mara’s breath rushed out all at once as she realized affection was the wrong word.

Karrde raised his eyebrows at her again. She closed her eyes and focused on inhaling and exhaling steadily.

Karrde was right about Luke. He looked at her like she made the stars brighter.

Then there was an opening in front of them, and two beings in full Coruscant medic gear squeezed into the space.

Mara waved them off, sharply directing their attention to Karrde. They extracted him and she followed, accepting the hands of a couple of rescuers to help her keep her balance as she picked her way through the rubble. She could still sense Luke hovering around the back of her mind. The wave of relief that rolled off him when they emerged from the pile of rock nearly made her knees buckle, and it was the work of a minute to convince the team that she was okay. She claimed she was just overwhelmed with joy to be free. Karrde was being loaded into a medical transport when the large chunks that were floating in mid air finally fell gently to the ground.

“I’m right behind you.” she told him.

“Take your time,” he answered, with a wink 

“Remember what I said.”

She spun around to see Skywalker, shoulders slumped slightly as he recovered from his intensive use of the Force. She wondered if he was aware he was still broadcasting to her.

His gaze met hers and she realized he knew. 

Without a conscious decision, Karrde’s words fresh in her mind, she walked carefully through the remaining rocks to where he stood, breeze ruffling his hair.

She waved off a couple of concerned medics as she drew closer to the Jedi who had saved them: her former quarry, her confusing friend. Part of her was aware of the moment she pushed through a wall of fear and crossed the line into Luke’s personal space. Heart pounding, she took the extra few steps into arms that were opening to her, fingers that were gently tracing her face, and soft lips that melted against her own.

**Author's Note:**

> I did not make up the painkillers in this story. Symoxin is considered to be very strong and has a history of being used as a poison. Mara's first aid kit is very fancy and she is definitely threatening to knock Karrde out.
> 
> I did make up the side effects for Comaren though.


End file.
